


Outburst

by MadamRed



Series: Writing Prompts (Tumblr) [8]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:09:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7472202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed/pseuds/MadamRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writing prompt requested on Tumblr: “Do you think you could just please go one day without pissing me off?”, “Well, this is awkward” & “Can I kiss you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Outburst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing prompt requested on Tumblr: “Do you think you could just please go one day without pissing me off?”
> 
>  **Warning :** Season five spoilers.

‘You disobeyed my orders!’ Hotch was getting louder with each new word he uttered, and the more he shouted, the angrier you got.

‘Sir, we did _not_ do such thing! You told us to stay put _unless_ something happened. We heard a scream and proceeded to act as planned!’ he was being completely unreasonable.

Morgan and you apprehended the suspect, saved the victims and secured the place in a matter of twenty minutes. By the time the team and the police arrived, you were exiting the building with the two ten-year-olds the bastard had kidnapped. You did the right thing, but he refused to see it.

‘You should’ve waited for back-up!’ he said as he took his vest off and threw it in the driver’s seat of the SUV he had driven there.

‘There was no time, Hotch! You know that if we’d waited, those kids...,’ you couldn’t bring yourself to say the rest, picturing your niece and nephew instead of the children you’d rescued. You swallowed the lump in your throat and faced him once more, waiting for his next outburst.

‘I’m giving you some time out. You will not be travelling with the team until you learn how to behave and follow orders. And that’s final,’ he added the last part when he saw you opening your mouth, ready to protest.

‘Hotch,’ Morgan started to defend you, ‘we took the decision to go in _together._ If anything, you should be punishing me since _I_ suggested it.’

‘You’re a seasoned agent, Morgan; you know what to do in these situations. (Y/L/N), on the other hand, just joined the team. I guess it was wrong of me to believe that she was ready for this kind of pressure.’

And with that, he stormed off to talk to the police officer in charge of the whole operation. The rest of the team just stood there, staring after their boss, speechless. JJ and Prentiss moved towards you and they each wrapped an arm around you as they started walking you towards the SUV parked at the far end of the abandoned property.

The rides to the police station and to the jet after that were a complete blur. You couldn’t believe what he had done. Time _out?!_ What were you? A five-year-old being told off by their parents for skipping school? For goodness’ sake! You were thirty years old and a former detective with plenty of experience. You _knew_ what pressure was! You’d even been sent in to deal with hostage situations. That had been the reason _why_ you were accepted in the BAU!

By the time the jet landed and you went back into the office to collect the dreaded paperwork that you would have to complete, you were fuming. Hotch had been immature and downright sexist. You thought your days of fighting against that kind of treatment were over once you left that horrible desk back in your hometown police department. But no. You guessed you could find _pigs_ wearing fancy tailored suits anywhere these days. The more you thought about it, the more unfair everything seemed to you.

So, when Garcia and the girls asked you to join them for a drink, you refused. When Reid and Morgan said they would try to talk to Hotch, you told them to forget about it, that it was pointless. Hell, you even declined Rossi’s offer to distract you by taking you out to a nice dinner in a restaurant of your choosing, all expenses on him. You just wanted to be alone, even if that meant staying in the office.

By the time you finished everything and dropped your files on Hotch’s desk, it was near midnight and you were still too angry to go back home. You decided to grab your bag and change into your workout gear to go and blow some steam in the gym. What you failed to notice in the pristine changing rooms was that there was indeed another FBI issued bag tucked away in the corner. So, when you entered the gym area on the second floor, you immediately wished you _had_ gone home. The one person you wanted to avoid was there, punching the boxing bag as if it were his worst enemy. And you knew that was _exactly_ what was going through his mind in that moment. You joined the team right after your current boss had lost his ex-wife to that Foyet guy. You knew he was still mourning, but that did not justify his reaction back at the abandoned house.

You were about to turn around and let him have the gym all to himself and just use the weights you knew you had somewhere in your closet, when he suddenly stopped and turned to look for his water bottle. His eyes landed on you, and he automatically squared his shoulders, ready to continue your previous argument. _Great,_ you thought, _he’s as stubborn as me._

‘Look, Hotch, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here. I’ll just leave, okay?’

‘No, _I’ll_ leave. I’m done here,’ he grabbed his bottle and towel and made his way straight to the door without sparing you a second glance. However, once you reached the bench and sat down to adjust your shoelaces, you saw him turn around again. ‘No, actually, I still have one more question to ask you, (Y/L/N).’

You took a long breath and stood up. You decided not to respond, but rather just wait for him to address you. _Maybe he wants to talk about what happened in the field._

‘Here it is: do you think you could just, _please,_ go one day without pissing me off?’ he said it with so much disdain, you took a step backwards.

Yet, before he could leave, you shook your head and spoke as loudly as you could without yelling.

‘Sir, with all due respect, what the hell is wrong with you?!’ his wild eyes were then focused solely on you. _Oh, no._ You were not intimidated by _him._ You had been in the receiving end of that kind of look one too many times. The hairs on your arms did not even stand on end anymore.

‘Excuse me?’ he said as collected as he could, though you could see his nostrils flaring with anger... the only telltale sign that he was about to lose it again.

And you couldn’t take it anymore. You wouldn’t _stand_ his childish attitude anymore.

‘What have I done in these past four months to anger you? Have I _not_ come to the office on time every single day? Have I _not_ shown up thirty minutes after each call at three am? Have I not handed _everything_ in when needed and have I not been respectful towards you or the team? Have I not been mindful and obeyed _every_ single rule and order we’ve been given by you? Even if it meant going _against_ Strauss’ wishes?’

You had taken a step with each new question and now you were standing right in front of him. Despite the fact that he was a good couple of inches taller than you, after your little rampage, he seemed to have become smaller. He walked past you and sat down on the bench you had previously occupied. You took another long breath through your nose and turned. You were met with the image of your boss with his elbows resting on his knees and his head down. Although his hands were still gripping the bottle tightly in front of him, they were shaking so bad he dropped the towel.

‘Hotch?’ your whisper startled him and he looked up, eyes overflowing with unshed tears. He was trying to contain himself but, he was unable to. Once the tears he’d been trying to suppress started falling, you both knew he was a goner.

You approached the bench carefully, sat down next to him and put your arms around his broad shoulders. It didn’t matter that he was covered in sweat. This poor, broken man hadn’t known what to do with his grief, and then he found the perfect outlet: getting angry at you, the newbie.

‘Hotch?’ you spoke softly after a few minutes of him soaking your shoulder with his tears. ‘Aaron?’ you tried again and felt him take a few steadying breaths before he lifted his head to look you right in the eye.

‘Forgive me, (Y/N). I did not mean to pour all my emotions on you like that,’ the sounds were slightly muffled due to the fact that he  had picked up the towel and was now drying his face, but you heard them.

‘Which emotion are you talking about? The angry outburst or the one with the waterworks?’ it was your futile attempt at lighting up the mood. You only hoped he got the message.

Thankfully, he did. He started out by only giving you a chuckle and a side grin, but then it transformed into actual laughter. Once he stopped, he looked at you again, with a few tears making their way down his cheeks still.

‘Thank you,’ he told you sincerely and got up to stand in front of you, after drying his face once more. ‘And, before you ask, I want to thank you for everything that you’ve done not only for this team in the short span of time you’ve been here, but for me, especially today. You stood up for yourself when I was being completely unfair towards you, and I’d like to apologise.’

You just nodded in response, and he went on.

‘My actions today and my anger were both unreasonable and inexcusable. If you would like to, you can of course continue travelling with our team... but I would understand if you decided to leave after how I treated you,’ he said the last bit with a pained expression on his face. He had dropped the poker face act completely. Understandable, after what you saw.

‘Aaron,’ you decided to get up as well, ‘I’m not going to say that it’s all okay... but I’m also not planning on quitting this job, especially not because my boss was behaving like an ass towards me. I’ve been there before, unfortunately, and, as unpleasant as those situations are, I know how to handle myself. And I should also apologise, you know, for having yelled at you... _twice.’_

‘You shouldn’t,’ you looked at him confused as you both started making your way to the lift. ‘You’re right, I _was_ being an ass and I deserved a reality check.’

You both laughed and that made the tension between you two disappear. As incredible as it was to the team when you told them the story of how everything was fixed months later, a strong friendship was born that day.


	2. Chivalry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing prompts requested on Tumblr: “Well, this is awkward” & “Can I kiss you?”

It was a year and a half since you were lucky enough to join the BAU, and Garcia wanted to celebrate it with everyone. It was a happy coincidence that it was also the weekend before Halloween, and she insisted that the entire team and their loved ones went to the party in full costume.

Your sister and husband were in town along with your niece and nephew, so you decided to ask them to join you for the celebration. Space wasn’t an issue because you were going to have the party at Rossi’s; _the more, the merrier,_ he had told you when you asked him if you could, in fact, invite them.

The minute you arrived, you were engulfed by two tiny pairs of arms. You had babysat Henry for JJ and Will a few times, either alone or along with Reid and Garcia, and you adored him. And then, there was Jack. Technically, you hadn’t babysat for Hotch, but he had asked you to come around his house a couple of times for... friendly dinners. You and Jack had spent quite a few Sundays on the Hotchner’s couch binge watching whatever it was that he was into at the time.

‘Auntie (Y/n)!’ Henry screamed as he charged towards you.

‘(Y/n)!’ Jack said a little quieter than his friend.

You got on your knees, not caring about your jeans one bit, and hugged them with all your strength.

‘How are you, boys? Seriously, you both need to stop growing! Look at you!’ you stood and put a hand on each of their heads to emphasise your point.

‘You’re short, auntie!’ Henry said laughing.

‘I’m not!’ you retorted as you tickled him.

You then introduced your family to everyone and chatted with the team as the kids played around in Rossi’s backyard. As the adults were taking turns to keep an eye on them, you went outside after a while, not realising that Aaron was already there.

‘Hey, there,’ you greeted him again with a bigger smile this time, happy to be able to spend some time alone with him.

‘(Y/n),’ he smiled back.

‘I didn’t know you were out here. You were hiding in the shadows there, mister,’ you bumped your shoulder with his as you stood next to him, each of you with a glass of wine in hand.

‘I wanted some peace and quiet,’ he said, and you agreed with a nod. As much as you loved the people inside, they could sure get loud when tipsy. ‘You were right: you and your sister look nothing like each other.’

‘Told you,’ you replied, before taking a sip of your glass. ‘I look just like my father, while she takes after our mother. She got the better deal, if you ask me.’

‘What?’ he turned to look at you, a confused expression adorning his handsome features. He was really close to your face.

‘Well, I mean, look at her. Her face is practically perfect, whereas I got this,’ you pointed at your face with your free hand. ‘I try to cover them with make-up but, I do have quite a few scars, you know.’

‘It may not be my place to say this, but those scars only go to show how much you’ve endured. You survived everything that was thrown your way. I personally think _that’s_ beautiful,’ he said his little speech with a bit too much intensity for his liking. He needed to be more careful in the future.

‘Aaron-’

‘Hey, Jack,’ Henry’s voice interrupted your little moment. ‘Why do you call auntie (Y/n) only by her name?’

‘Because when I started doing it, both my dad and (Y/n) told me that it felt weird, so I stopped,’ the child shrugged, and they all continued playing as if nothing had happened.

You looked at each other, not knowing what to say... You had told Jack in private one afternoon when Aaron had gone out to buy groceries but, you were unaware that Aaron had done the same thing.

‘Well...,’ he started saying.

‘This is awkward,’ you finished for him.

You both started laughing nervously, unable to control it.

‘Can we talk about this... later?’ he asked you, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

‘Absolutely. Later,’ you promised him and went inside, in need of a distraction.

Dinner was really fun, aside from the occasional eye contact between Aaron and you. Either the team knew that your friendship had somehow turned into something else these past few months, or you two were good at hiding the current tension. Knowing them... it was probably the former.

After you dropped your family off at their hotel, you turned your car around as you felt your heart start fluttering inside your chest. _This is just like every other time I stayed at his house,_ you said inside your head to try and calm yourself. It didn’t work. You were painfully aware that this was different. This was either going to take your relationship to a whole new level, or it was going to leave you heartbroken and struggling to breathe. _Perfect._

You texted Aaron to let him know that you were downstairs, so as not to wake Jack up, and he buzzed you in. You tried to even your breathing out as you made your way up in the lift, and were somewhat composed when you pushed his apartment door –he always left it open for you. You walked in and found him sitting at the kitchen table, two cups of coffee in the middle of it.

‘Hi,’ you said as you sat down and took a sip from your mug. Strong with two spoonfuls of sugar, just the way you liked it. ‘Thank you.’

‘No problem,’ he smiled and copied your initiative.

‘Is Jack already in bed?’

‘Yes, I just tucked him in. He told me to wish you a good night,’ the sentiment melted your heart; you truly had grown to love that little guy.

‘He’s such a sweetheart,’ you smiled and looked down at your hands as you held the mug a little too tightly.

‘Actually, _you_ are,’ he declared in a whisper, as he moved from the chair in front of you to the one next to you. He took your right hand in his left one, and used the other one to lift your chin since you were still focused on the mug. ‘(Y/n), I’m sorry if what Jack said earlier made you uncomfortable in any way, I just-’

‘Aaron, please, if anything, _I_ should be the one apologising. I was probably way out of line when I told _your_ son not to call me “auntie”. I mean, who am I to-’

You couldn’t finish your thought because a pair of lips suddenly landed on yours, and your brain pretty much short-circuited. You lost yourself in the kiss and, soon enough, you opened your mouth to deepen it. He broke the kiss due to lack of air, and you instinctively followed his lips, prompting a smirk to appear on his face.

‘Sorry,’ he said breathily, his forehead resting on yours.

‘What for?’

‘For not asking for your permission to do that,’ you smiled at his thoughtfulness.

‘So, ask me then.’

‘Isn’t it a little too late now?’ he laughed.

‘Do you want to be chivalrous or not?’ you challenged him.

‘Fine! Fine! (Y/n), can I kiss you?’ his smile may have been small, but his eyes held so much emotion.

‘I don’t know, _can you?’_

You laughed at your childish joke, until he silenced you again. You could sure get used to that.


End file.
